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America's President Joe Biden at his desk in the White House, a black ballpoint pen in hand, black folders in front of him - this is the image you see a lot in the US media these days.
Biden, only a few weeks in office, has already signed around 50 ordinances in front of TV cameras and photographers.
He joined the Paris Climate Agreement, which Donald Trump had terminated.
He revoked the entry ban for citizens from 13 predominantly Muslim countries.
He stopped the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.
But there is one thing that Biden has not taken back: the customs duties of his predecessor.
Biden, it seems, wants to wipe out Trump's legacy as quickly as possible, just not in trade policy.
He also continues to see China as the number one economic public enemy.
Biden even imposed new tariffs on the United Arab Emirates.
And for the time being he is not touching the taxes that apply to steel, aluminum, wine, cheese, olives and many other products from Europe.
Was it premature to hope in Brussels and Berlin that the economic conflicts between Biden would end?
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"Biden brings more stability and predictability into US trade policy," says Michael Froman, "but he will be no less tough than Trump." Froman was Barack Obama's trade representative and now works for the New York credit card company Mastercard.
"If America's partners in Europe think that it's all sunshine now," says Froman, "then they are mistaken." The controversial topics, for example subsidies for the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, remain relevant for Biden, according to Froman.
The tariffs on steel and aluminum, imposed in June 2018, were Trump's first economic attack on Europe.
Brussels retaliated only a few weeks later and also levied taxes: 25 percent on Harleys, whiskey
and
Levi's jeans.
No action yet, but the tone is becoming more conciliatory
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Biden now says
,
he wanted to reconcile with the old allies, especially Germany, France and Great Britain.
The end of the steel tariffs could be a first step, especially since the EU already offered to lift its measures in return.
But Biden's words have not yet been followed by actions.
At least the tone is more conciliatory.
This is also suggested by Biden's personnel decisions.
An example: The Trump administration's trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, is to be replaced by Katherine Tai, who previously worked as an advisor to the powerful budget committee of the US House of Representatives.
There are worlds between the two.
Lighthizer is considered a macho with a huge ego, he is said to have hung a life-size picture of himself at home.
Tai, it is said, be cautious, quietly and patiently looking for compromises behind the scenes.
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But Washington is likely to remain tough on the matter.
"We will use trade as an instrument," Tai said in a recent speech, "to create great wealth for America." A rapprochement with China?
An end to tariffs against Europe?
Not a word of it.
In her address, Tai emphasized instead: "The priority of the Biden government is the US workers." That does not sound like relaxation, but like a polite paraphrase of the infamous Trump doctrine, which stood at the beginning of all tariff conflicts: "America First".
Biden is in no hurry to lift Trump's tariffs
The "Big Bang" that many in Europe were hoping for, a big bang that will wipe out Trump's trade policy, seems unlikely.
Hardly any company boss or economist in the USA assumes that the tariff conflicts will end under Biden.
Many would consider it a success if there were no new arguments.
Biden, too, it seems, could become a “tariff man”, as Trump once described himself, a man of customs.
The Democrat is relying on the support of the rust belt, an old industrial region in the northeastern United States, where protectionism is popular.
One factory after the next has closed there in recent years - other countries simply produced cheaper.
Biden wants states like Pennsylvania and Michigan to flourish again.
Because they are among the swing states that often decide the presidential election and helped him into office.
His trade policy will therefore also be a battle for the favor of the rust belt.
So Biden does not seem to be in a hurry to lift Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports worth $ 360 billion.
He is demanding the same concessions from Beijing as his predecessor: less government subsidies, opening of the markets for America's internet giants, no theft of technology.
In addition, there are political demands such as an end to the oppression of the Uyghurs and the democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Trump's ultimate economic defeat
Trump himself didn't get very far on the subject of trade.
He once started with the promise to reduce America's trade deficit.
But all of its tariffs, threats, and renegotiated contracts didn't do much.
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The loss totaled more than $ 2.4 trillion during Trump's tenure - an increase of 25 percent over the last four years under Obama.
So the Americans, who had to pay more for their washing machines, televisions, and cars because of the tariffs, suffered in vain.
Even the Republicans consider Trump's trade policy to have failed.
A bigger deficit than Obama - that is the ultimate economic defeat.
The "Tariff Man," aiming to improve America's record, only made things worse.
And that's hardly because of Corona.
Even in Trump's three years in office before the pandemic, the gap was consistently larger than in the Obama era.
Biden is under pressure to narrow that gap.
But it could also start new trade wars for an entirely different reason.
One of his economic advisors, Peter Harrell, recently threatened the world with a kind of climate tax: Biden, who has made the fight against global warming a priority, may, according to Harrell, impose tariffs on products from countries that are particularly high in pollutants Blow air.
Biden predicts "extreme competition" between the US and China
US President Biden said in an interview with a view to the relationship with China: “We don't have to have a conflict, but there will be extreme competition.” Analyst Alexander Berger explains what that means for the markets.
Source: WELT / Dietmar Deffner